Learning How to Survive
by Wild-Imaginings
Summary: Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and lose all hope, or can she still be rescued?  K  for safety - for now
1. Chapter 1

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart. Will she spiral out of control and loose all hope, or can she still be rescued? (The summary will get clearer with later chapters, I just don't want to reveal too much just yet.)**

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**A/N:**** Because you are all so incredibly awesome, I have decided to put up a new story despite the sabbatical that I promised myself. **

**Okay, so this isn't one of the three stories that I talked about, this one popped up over night.**

**I'm not 100% sure that I like this story or where I have planned to take it, so pretty please review and let me know if I should scrap it or continue it.**

**P.s. I know it's a bit confusing, but it will all be explained soon...**

**Ch 1:**

Mark Sloan pulled away from his long-time girlfriend once the irritating, little, electronic machine next to him started vibrating and beeping. Lexie tried to distract him back into the kiss, however, the constant blaring of the pager beside their heads made distraction near impossible. Reluctantly Mark rolled off of Lexie's petite body, onto the bed beside her.

'**911 ER, Bailey**'

"Shit." He climbed off of the bottom bunk and hastily yanked his discarded scrubs back on. "Sorry babe, we'll have to carry on with this a bit later." He planted a soft, chaste kiss on the brunette's lips before running out of the room and down to the ER.

"Took your time getting here, Sloan." Bailey firmly stated, as she angrily pulled her yellow gown off. "I thought I might have to send a search party out for you."

"Nice to see you too." He smiled cheekily. "What have we got?" Down to business now, he noticed how her expression changed. Her anger and irritation turned to hurt and pity, maybe even worry. "Bailey what happened?"

"Torres came in with the last one. She's a wreck. You need to find her. I can't have some blood soaked zombie walking my hallways, scaring all my patients."

His heart sank. Callie. She wasn't meant to be working today. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know. We opened up the ambulance and she was sitting there with..." Bailey paused unable to mention the name. "With... She was covered in blood from head to toe. She's out of it Mark. I tried to talk to her but she looked straight through me like I wasn't even there, carried on walking. You need to find her and get her home or to Psych."

Every part of him wanted to ask who it was, a small part of him already knew, but he needed to get to Callie first. She was the most important person in the world to him, other than Lexie.

Mark paused as he neared the OR board. The name jumped out at him. He went cold, he felt sick and shivers ran up and down his spine. A renewed sense of urgency filled him as he darted along the passages of Seattle Grace, more desperate now than ever to find Callie.

* * *

Callie stood stock still in the middle of the empty hospital corridor. Her dark olive skin tone was pale in comparison to her better days. Tears streamed down her hot cheeks, her blood covered hands shook, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

The petrified surgeon walked over to the wall on jelly legs. She turned to lean against it just as her legs gave out beneath her. As she slid down the cold brick, blood from her jacket turned the sterile white a startling scarlet.

Calliope Iphegenia Torres looked down at her red hands. She couldn't count the fingers before her due to the tears that blurred everything into one. There was no skin, there was no bone, and there were no nails, just blood... Red blood... Rivers of red blood...

Her head fell back against the scarlet stained wall. She couldn't breathe. Her heart pounded faster than any that she had ever heard in all her years of wielding a stethoscope. Her pulse pounded angrily in her ears, telling her that she was still alive.

Blood... Scarlet rivers...

Her eyes refused to close. Her brain knew what it would see. What it would be forced to relive. Her heart knew it would suffer another blow.

Would seeing it again maybe kill her? Wouldn't that be better?

The metallic smell of fresh blood filled the medicinal air. A smell that was normally comforting. The smell that signified that a life was being saved, that a bone was being put back together, a future being realigned. Not today. No, not today.

The pale woman, sitting against the wall in the middle of a deserted corridor, forced out a slow shaky breath. She pulled her long legs up to her chest, noting the blood that covered her pale jeans. Her head dropped down onto the blood patches on her knees and she wrapped her arms protectively around herself, finally giving into the sobs. She still refused to close her eyes.

A shuddering sob wracked the woman from her core. Her whole body shook furiously. She didn't care anymore. The Latina let herself fall to the side, so that she was curled up in the foetal position with her head tucked up against her chest.

She was oblivious to everything around her. She was numb, she was broken. Callie didn't feel the strong arms that pulled her up and enveloped her rigid form, and she didn't hear the deep husky voice whispering soothing words into her deaf ears.

All she felt was the drying blood crusting on her hands, on her face, in her hair. All she heard was the blood pounding behind her ears. All she saw were the blood patches on her stained jeans. Her senses were fine-tuned to the life lost, the life's blood that she wore. The blood... Red blood... Scarlet rivers...

* * *

Mark Sloan noticed the brunette curled up into a ball, shaking, lying against the wall of the corridor. He had never seen her like this. He had never witnessed his best friend die.

Mark wasn't afraid of the blood. He couldn't help but shrink knowing whose it was, knowing whose life's essence coated his best friend's skin, her clothes and even her hair. He walked over to the broken woman and scooped her limp body up into his arms. He held her tightly against his broad chest.

He had expected her to look up at him, to wrap her arms around him. He had thought that she would have sought comfort from him. He realised sadly, that he might as well have not been there.

Sloan looked down into her eyes. He saw that they weren't closed, but they might as well have been. The woman was looking dead ahead, the warmth that he would normally find behind them done, replaced by an icy vacant stare. He knew that she was gone, he knew that she was dead inside.

He thought back to the name that was written in large capital letters on the OR board. There was no way that Callie would be able to survive the loss. She was dead now, but at least he knew that there was a chance that she would recover. For now.

Mark pulled Callie up with him as he stood in the passage. He didn't know how no one else had noticed her yet, Bailey wasn't exaggerating when she had said that Callie was covered in blood from head to toe.

For the first time since he got to her, he felt Callie acknowledge him. Her shaky arms wrapped around his strong midsection, her head nuzzling into his chest. He pulled her closer into himself. He knew better than to say anything to her right now, she would pull back into herself. He clung to the unstable woman and led her slowly towards the Attendings' locker room where he knew that she would have a spare change of clothes.

Mark pushed the door open with his free hand, not wanting to let Callie go in fear that she would just collapse back onto the floor. They had had a few stares from curios passersby, but the small woman was oblivious to them, she remained with her head tucked into Mark's chest all the way to the safety of the room.

He put her carefully onto one of the benches directly in front of the brunette's locker. He retrieved a pair of dark jeans, a purple three-quarter length top and the black Hoodie that she had stolen from him a few months ago. He searched for her toiletry bad and pulled that out too before picking up a towel and leading the distant woman towards one of the showers.

He didn't find it awkward stripping and showering the woman. It was like she wasn't even there. It was clinical and heartbreaking for him. She followed all his directions without even blinking. She looked straight ahead, seeing straight through the walls, through Mark, through life.

Mark didn't notice Bailey there until she spoke to him. "How's she doing?"

"She'd dead inside. You were right when you called her a zombie. She hasn't closed her eyes, she hasn't cried, she hasn't spoken." Bailey looked over at Callie who was once again sat on the bench. She was blood free, but she still wore a vacant, heart shattering stare.

"You're taking her up to Psych right?" Bailey put her hands on her hips and looked up into the eyes of the cocky surgeon. She already knew his answer, but she still had to ask.

"I can't do that to her. I'm taking her home with me. I won't take my eyes off her. I promise Bailey, she'll be okay with me."

Three hours later and Mark was lying in bed spooning Callie. She was yet to say anything to him. He had led her across the road from the hospital, opened his door and watched as Callie walked directly into his room and lay on her side in his bed. That was over two hours ago.

He had tried to get her to eat. She hadn't responded. She just lay in the same position on the bed, staring straight ahead. He felt his eyes getting heavy. He leaned up on his elbow, looking over Callie's body into her dead eyes. He knew that it was unlikely that she would sleep.

Mark awoke startled. Something wasn't right. He ran his hand across the bed next to him. The sheets were cold, Callie wasn't there. His cell phone rang on the nightstand next to him. He looked at the caller ID before answering it hastily.

"Get over here right now!" Lexie shouted into the phone.

"What, Lex what happened?" He jumped out of bed again, panicking. "I have to get Torres first. She's probably watching TV or something."

"Mark she's here. I don't know how she got here, but she's here. She's gone nuts. She's not the zombie Callie that everyone's been talking about. She's in the Attending's lounge screaming and throwing things."

"I'm on my way Lex." He snapped his phone closed and shoved it into his pocket, grabbing his keys and sprinting out of the door. _How the hell did I let this happen?_

_

* * *

_

**About an hour or so earlier...**

Callie looked over at Mark. He was fast asleep. She sat up on the edge of the bed and slipped her shoes back onto her aching feet. Her whole body ached.

She felt numb. She knew that she needed to see what had happened. She walked across the road with the hospital in mind. She felt like she was in a trance. Like there was something in the hospital that was calling her.

No one noticed her. She slipped into the ICU ward and made a beeline toward the room. She didn't know how she knew that was the room, but it was drawing her, pulling her like opposing magnets.

She looked through the window. Her heart dissolved, there was nothing inside her. She felt knives stabbing into her, she stopped breathing momentarily. Her legs begged to give out, to give up. Her lungs begged her to sob. She shook her head and tightened her hands into fists.

There was no one there. The world had left her alone. The lights of the passages blared down on her. They hurt her tired eyes. They buzzed loudly against her aching ears. She needed darkness, she needed silence. She needed an end.

She found herself throwing the door to the Attending's lounge open. Her body was on auto pilot, every time she had walked into the lounge, she walked to the coffee machine and poured herself a hot, steaming cup. Her body knew this pattern and forced her brain to comply.

Before she registered what was happening, she saw the small coffee machine flying out of her hands and across the room. She started to feel, but it was anger instead of pain.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and loose all hope, or can she still be rescued? **

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**A/N:**** I was going to kill Aria, but that was a really bad attempt... the writing just didn't flow - sorry George...**

**Sorry for the really late update, I'll try to update more regularly from now on, just had a really hectic time of it lately.**

**Thanks to those of you who stuck with the confusion of chapter 1, hopefully this will shed some light on what's happening. Thanks for the reviews, and the story add thingy's, etc :)**

**I know these events aren't as they happened, I know that George and April never dated and I know that the timing is all wonky, but for the purpose of this fic and how I want it to pan out, please find it in your heart to go with the flow :p**

**Ch2**

_Callie looked through the window. Her heart dissolved, there was nothing inside her. She felt knives stabbing into her, she stopped breathing momentarily. Her legs begged to give out, to give up. Her lungs begged her to sob. She shook her head and tightened her hands into fists. _

_There was no one there. The world had left her alone. The lights of the passages blared down on her. They hurt her tired eyes. They buzzed loudly against her aching ears. She needed darkness, she needed silence. She needed an end._

_She found herself throwing the door to the Attending's lounge open. Her body was on auto pilot, every time she had walked into the lounge, she walked to the coffee machine and poured herself a hot, steaming cup. Her body knew this pattern and forced her brain to comply._

_Before she registered what was happening, she saw the small coffee machine flying out of her hands and across the room. She started to feel, but it was anger instead of pain._

**Two days earlier...**

George O'Malley walked along the hospital corridor talking animatedly to one of his co-workers. Things were looking up for him these days; he had a wonderful girlfriend, amazing friends, and was having the best sex of his life. Yes, things were definitely looking up.

The chattering doctors pulled to a sudden halt when they noticed the feisty brunette attending that was walking towards them from the opposite end of the hallway. George immediately grabbed his companions arm, prepared to turn and walk in the opposite direction.

"George you have to face her eventually." Lexie whispered, trying to force him further along on the route that they had been taking.

"Yeah, but today isn't eventually. Today isn't one day. Today is today, just like any other normal day. Today is not the day that I walk up to my soon to be ex wife and make small talk. Today is not the day that I smile at the woman who I cheated on with my best friend. Today is not that day." He pulled his hand from Lexie's grasp and turned away from the brunette.

He hadn't taken two steps before he heard the woman call to him. "George, wait." He turned back toward her, she looked out of breath. She wasn't the same woman that he had dated, the same woman that he had married. Her eyes had more sparkle than they used to. She didn't smile as much as she used to, he knew that was his fault, but the fact that her eyes sparkled more made him feel a bit better.

He knew that he owed her; it was his fault that their marriage had started to crumble. Despite everything, it had taken two for the marriage to fall, so he couldn't help the anger that boiled within his veins.

He looked at the brunette expectantly. "What? What could there possibly be that we should discuss?" The anger and sharpness of his voice between them shocked him slightly, he didn't realise how angry he really was.

"George..." The unsure Latina looked into hurt and angry eyes.

The soft man that she had fallen for the moment that she had laid eyes on him was no longer there. His sweet, dorky ways of going about things, his cheeky grin, his big heart and his loving tone, they were all gone. In front of her stood the complete opposite of the George O'Malley that she had fallen in love with. She knew that someone out there deserved that George, not the broken 'I cheated on my wife with my best friend' George. She needed to bring the old George back and maybe in the process, the old Callie.

"George..." Callie paused again, taking another deep breath. Why was this so scary? "Do you want to get coffee with me?" She smiled, glad that she had had the guts to ask him. What's the worst that could happen?

"What?" George spluttered, blinking his eyes slowly a few times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

"Relax George, I'm asking you to get coffee with me as a friend. Well not exactly as a friend, but as a soon-to-be ex-wife trying to be friends?" She raised one of her eyebrows, hoping that he would say yes.

"I suppose there's no harm in it." He smiled. They had made a good pair, and before their world crumbled they had had a way of making each other laugh at the smallest things.

"Okay, so I'm off tomorrow. Wanna meet up at that cafe around the corner; you know the one that..." She trailed off, noting the understanding in his eyes.

"Yeah I know which one." He smiled goofily. "I'll be finished here late tonight, so shall we say about eleven?"

Why did she feel like she was setting up a date? She loved him, that was a given, but she just couldn't find it within herself to stay _in love_ with him. They were brilliant as friends, but anything more and it just wasn't meant to be.

Their coffee had gone well, they had laughed until they cried, they had reminisced and they had bickered over little things, like the one time that George had left the toaster on with nothing in it and had almost burnt Meredith's house down and had blamed Callie for it.

They were moving on. George had talked to her about how crap the sex had turned out being between him and Izzie. As George had talked to her about it she had kept a straight face, nodding in all the right places and saying 'shame' and 'sorry' when required, but when he looked up at her with his Bambi eyes, she had to hold onto the table to stop herself falling of her sheer due to the fit of laughter that took over her body.

"Cal it's not funny." He looked at the woman across from him. "No seriously you have to stop with the laughing at the expense of my failed sex life." He looked at the woman again infected by her fit of laughter he doubled over, almost hitting his head on the table in front of him.

"Seriously George," Callie sat upright, wiping the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. "That's karma for you guys."

"Oh shut up." George smiled at her. "At least its better with April. Things are going really well."

Callie smiled back at him. He seemed genuinely happy despite her earlier assumption. Maybe it was just her? "I really want to hate you for everything, but I really can't bring myself to hold onto the grudge."

"Are things that good with you and Erica?" He laughed. She hadn't realised that they all knew, that her and Erica hadn't been quite as discreet as she had thought. She could only smile in response.

George looked down at his watch. "I have to meet April at the hospital soon; we're heading for a late lunch." Callie noticed how his smile was brighter and his eyes twinkled when he spoke about April. She had definitely been wrong earlier. George wasn't broken.

The happy pair stood to leave. "Walk with me?" George asked. Callie nodded her head in response, following George out the door.

Her breath caught in her throat, her heart stopped beating, but she remained frozen to the spot. The woman stepped out into the road, a bus flying toward her at full speed. It all happened so slowly. She saw the bus driver panic, waving his hand toward her to get her to stop, honking at her to get her attention. It was pointless, she had an iPod in her hand, scrolling through the tracks, earphones firmly imbedded in her ears... there was no way to get to her.

Cemented to the sidewalk just outside the door of the coffee shop, Callie watched as sweet, timid George dropped his coffee onto the hard concrete and threw himself at the oblivious woman. She watched eyes unable to blink, as the woman flew through the air onto the other side of the road, where it was deserted and no cars could get to her.

She stopped breathing as the bus slammed into a body that she knew so well.

Tears started to fall as she saw the bus carry him for what seemed like miles before it came to a stop.

Her heart shattered as she ran to the lifeless body, throwing herself around him, knowing that it may be the last time that she would ever be able to.

Finally, her brain kicked into gear as she heard screams of shock, terror and disgust. Her hands went to work on his limp, bloody body.

She could fell him slipping away under her expert hands. She knew it wouldn't be long before the ambulance got to them.

Her heart plummeted, they were over, they had been over for a long time, but she still couldn't fathom the life of her friend being sucked out of him. His heart had stopped, she was trying her best to resuscitate him, she felt hands wrap around her own as one paramedic took over and another directed her to the waiting ambulance.

She felt nothing but emptiness consume her.

**Like it? Hate it? Please review... :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and loose all hope, or can she still be rescued? **

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**A/N:**** Okay so I'm sorry, :D please find it in your hearts to forgive my tardiness...**

**It gets slightly confusing again from this chapter, but if you stick with it, all will be explained :)**

Mark ran up to a trembling Lexie. He enveloped her into a tight hug, inhaling her familiar scent. Things were all so messed up these days.

"What happened, Lex?" He looked down into her petrified eyes.

Lexie looked from the Attendings' Lounge to Mark. She hadn't ever seen anyone behaving like Callie before, it was like she was possessed. It scared her that someone could become like that. If anyone, the crazy psycho person should be April - she was Georg's girlfriend after all. _Maybe she wanted to get back together with him?_

She looked back up at Mark, he had aged overnight; she could see the stress that marred his features. His eyes didn't sparkle in their usual child-like manner. He wasn't _Mark_ anymore. He was this mature, worried man.

"She came to visit him..." Lexie paused; she couldn't bring herself to remember it. He was her best friend, her only friend in this hospital, if she was truthful. To him she wasn't Lexiepaedia, to him she wasn't Meredith Grey's little sister. To him she was Lexie Grey, a friend.

"What did she see Lexie. Something must have set her of like that. She wouldn't have gone from zombie to psych-" He stopped midsentence, realisation having suddenly struck him. "He's dead?" His face fell instantly.

He pulled Lexie closer, giving her a tighter hug before pushing her out of his embrace and holding her by her shoulders. He looked into her tear stained eyes. "Lex, she'll be okay, you'll be okay." He kissed the top of her head tenderly then walked away, in the general direction of the Attendings' Lounge.

He found it hard to ignore the gossip on his way through the hospital. All the nurses where talking about Georges death and Callie's sudden psychotic state. He was pleased that they weren't snide comments, but rather comments coming out of concern and sorrow.

He found himself outside the Attending's Lounge. He put his ear to the door, making a silent plead to the heavens that the room was calm and quiet on the other side. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as his ear was met with silence.

The tall, greying man, with the confidence of the world, stood tentatively on the other side of the door. He had no idea what to expect on the other side of the wooden barrier, he had no idea what state his best friend would be in. He was terrified, if he was honest with himself.

He gingerly raised his hand to the door, knocking very lightly so as not to startle the woman on the other side. "Cal?" He pushed down on the door handle, surprised to find that the door swung open under his touch. His heart immediately dropped at the sight that he was met with.

The room was in total uproar. The floor was littered with the items that were once found on shelves, coffee tables and desks. The coffee machine was lying smashed against one of the walls; mugs were shattered on the floor covering books, papers and flyers.

His eyes scanned the room frantically, trying desperately to find the small woman that had caused such destruction. "You won't find her here." The soft voice of the janitor cut through to his mind. He turned slowly to face the tired old man. "Doctor Bailey led her away somewhere about five, or so, minutes ago."

Mark watched as the balding gentleman started to clean up the lounge. "Do you know where they went?"

"I assume she took Doctor Torres to psych. She was saying something about having known that it was the right thing to do but someone stupidly thought that they could look after her." The janitor stooped down over the coffee machine, concentrating on the task before him.

"Thanks, and I'm sorry about the mess." Sloan shot over his shoulder as he left the room and ran up to the psych ward.

He couldn't get up there fast enough. He ran into Bailey as she was leaving the ward. "Where is she? Where did you take Torres?" Mark gripped the short woman by her shoulders, controlling every part of him that so desperately wanted to shake her.

"What do you think you are doing? Get your oversized and overpriced hands off of me!" She shook her shoulders to get Sloan's hands away from her. She noted the pain and confusion etched across his 'pretty-boy' features. "She needs to sleep. They'll sedate her for a while to get her rested."

"Good." He sighed, running his hands up and down his face. "I think I'd better call Erica, to let her know what's happening."

"You don't need to. She's on her way back from the conference already. I got someone to call her when I heard about Torres' breakdown." The tiny woman stormed away from Sloan, pissed off that he had let the young surgeon break to such an extent. In a way she knew that it wasn't really his fault, but she also knew that it could have been prevented.

Mark watched as Bailey walked away from him shaking her head. He knew that he had messed up, but he needed to try to be there for his best friend. He ran further into the ward, looking frantically for that familiar head of deep brown hair. He spotted a woman laying curled up into a ball, her knees as high under her chin as humanly possible. He could see that the delicate form was shivering.

If it hadn't have been for the clothing and the hair cascading over the pillow, he would never have known that the delicate, shaking form was in fact Callie. He was bemused; bewitched by the way that grief had taken over her life.

The plastic surgeon gently placed himself onto the bed next to Callie, he slowly stroked his hand through her wild hair. "Cal?" He hadn't expected her to respond, the fact that she turned her head to look at him had startled him slightly.

"Cal, Erica will be here tomorrow, but until then we are going to let you get some rest. That okay?" He wasn't really asking her, he just needed her to know what was happening. "I'll see you in the morning." He tenderly kissed her forehead before standing up and moving to the chair next to her bed.

Callie walked through the deserted hospital. Her heart shattering again as she remembered how Mark found her. Her breath caught in her chest. She still couldn't feel anything, and that scared her. Why did she only feel when she was throwing things?

The brunette balled her hands into tight, angry fists. She rocked her head from side to side, trying to stretch out the tension that she felt in her shoulders. She felt each knot pop as it loosened, immediately regretting the relief that it allowed.

Her feet moved one in front of the other, no set destination in mind. Walking, just walking. She could feel her mind meandering back to the accident scene. She shook her head furiously, the image had to go!

She was startled out of her own world with a hand on her shoulder and a soft voice in her ear. "Baby, where are you going?" She froze upon hearing the term of endearment from an unfamiliar voice, the warmth radiating throughout her body from an unfamiliar touch.

"Hey, are you okay?" The woman moved around from behind Callie, revealing herself. _Blonde hair, blue eyes, that's right. _She thought to herself. _But it's the wrong hair. It's too perfect, too blonde, and it curls in the most irresistible way. They're the wrong blue eyes, they're too blue, and they sparkle?_

Despite her confusion over who the unfamiliar blonde was, she felt a sudden calm wash over her body, a sudden sense of peace that seemed to drown out the turbulence that was gripping at her. She heard her answer leave her mouth before she even thought it. "I'm better now."

The blonde tilted her head to the side and cocked an eyebrow. _Who is she?_ She crossed her arms over her chest. It was then that Callie noticed what the woman was wearing. She had on the familiar garb of an Attending Surgeon. Her petite frame was hidden under deep blue scrubs and a flowing white coat.

"Are you sure you're okay, you're kind of scaring me." This woman was confusing Callie. First the whole 'baby' thing, now she's acting like she knows her. The brunette shuffled through her brain, desperately trying to figure out how this woman would know her.

"Look Calliope, you-"

"Did you just call me 'Calliope'?" Callie looked at the woman that had just used her full name. Her heart had stopped momentarily, a shiver had rushed through her body, and butterflies had erupted in her stomach, all before her brain had even registered the use of her name.

The blonde looked up into Callie's eyes, concern and confusion etched across her features. "Callie, are you sure you're okay." The woman gently took Callie's hand, like she was afraid that the brunette would break. "You're acting all weird, like you don't know who I am. Baby you're really starting to scare me here."

Callie could feel her confusion dissipating, quickly being replaced by anger. She didn't like not knowing what was going on. She didn't like being out of control, and right now she felt very much out of control.

She looked down into the blue oceans, momentarily getting lost within their depths. What she saw in those eyes scared her even more than the lack of control she had over the situation. Her heart sped up, furiously fighting to jump out of her chest. Those eyes should not have love, lust or compassion in them.

"Where's Mark?" Callie snapped, yanking her hand out of the startled blonde's grip and storming further along the corridor, now with a destination in mind.

"Calliope, wait!" She could hear the woman chasing after her. "He's not here today remember, they've gone away for a while." Callie stopped suddenly.

"What do you mean 'they've gone away'? Who's 'they'?" Her eyes shone with ferocity. She could feel the panic rising within her body.

"Callie... baby calm down." Callie pushed the trembling, ivory hand down before it had a chance to reach her shoulder again. She needed to think straight, and as long as this woman was touching her, that wasn't possible.

"First of all, don't call me baby." Callie noticed the look of pain that shot across the blonde's delicate features. She couldn't understand why that look of pain had hurt her too; she didn't even know who this woman was! She took a deep breath. "Secondly, no I will not calm down! I randomly find myself in the middle of a corridor, going I don't know where, then this random, hot blonde appears and acts like she's known me my whole life," She can feel the terror welling up inside of her. "And now you tell me, that the only person that will understand my craziness, the last person that I actually remember seeing today, isn't even around?"

The perky blonde tilted her head to the side, captivating the brunette. The dimpled smile, which had momentarily been wiped off the dazzling features, returned with full force, instantly making Callie weak at the knees. A blush rushed up her neck and settled into her soft cheeks as she heard the words that flowed out of tempting lips. "You think I'm hot." Callie couldn't help but smile in response to the megawatt smile that was being directed at her.

_Focus Callie. Why does this woman seem so familiar?_ She calmed the blush as she forced herself to focus on the woman before her, to _really_ see her. Her eyes moved from the stunning blonde hair that begged for her fingers to tunnel their way into it, to the startling blue eyes that took her to worlds far from her own, further down to the cutest nose that she could happily place a gently kiss on every day, to the soft pink lips that were framed by crater-like dimples, lips that she wanted to capture in a heated kiss. She took in the way that the woman cast a loving, familiar gaze at her, the way that she stood fully open towards her...

"Calliope are you done with your freakish behaviour?" The blonde furrowed her brow, waiting for the brunette to reply.

"Look..." Callie looked down to the breast pocket of the smaller woman, reading the name emblazoned in perfectly looped, blue stitching. "... Dr. Robbins, I have no idea who you are, the fact that you act like you know me so well, quite frankly, is irritating me beyond means. I have just witnessed the death of my ex-husband, my best friend is MIA and my girlfriend is half way across the country attending some stupid-ass conference!"

Fire shot across the blue eyes, turning them from soothing blue oceans to icy storms. "Your _girlfriend_ Calliope?" Realisation flooded through the blue eyes, calming the angry storms back into cool oceans. "Wait, did you just say that you only just witnessed George's death?" Panic started to swirl in the blue eyes, reflecting perfectly the terror in the brunette's eyes.

"This afternoon." The soft sigh slipped from her mouth, barely audible to the blonde. "How do you know George?" Callie allowed the pain to overflow her body again.

"Calliope, come with me." She wanted to follow the melodic voice; she desperately wanted to trust the woman that enticed her. "I want to show you something." The enchanting smile and the sparkling eyes were enough to allow Callie to drop all her defences and follow the thrilling woman.

They walked the corridors together, Callie now noticing that the hospital wasn't nearly as empty as it had seemed. She recognised the path that they were taking. _Neuro? _

"Hold on a minute." She put her hand on the shoulder of the petite form. She desperately tried to sound sterner than it came out, more in control and less afraid, but every single part of her told her that something wasn't right. "Why are we in Neuro?"

"Callie, this isn't easy to explain, I don't have the answers that you're looking for. Just please... just trust me Calliope." The blonde raised her palm to the olive cheek. Callie closed her eyes involuntarily, and leaned into the magical touch.

She released a soft sigh, her whole body seemed to melt into the touch, and she couldn't explain it, but her heart begged for her to trust this complete stranger. The dark orbs fluttered open, and Callie forced her brain to form coherent words. "Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and loose all hope, or can she still be rescued? **

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**Beta:**** GreysCalzonaLover and funkyshaz57**

**A/N:**** I have no excuse.**

**Okay, so my awesome Beta suggested that I explain something... The timeline is totally rearranged, and for that I apologise – sort of. **

**Um, so there is some research out there that backs up the main idea of this story – which for now you'll have to keep guessing. **

**Trust me, if you stick with it you'll have your happy ending and the confusion will clear up.**

Frightened eyes opened within a dark tunnel, gentle beeping invaded straining ears. The rhythmic pounding of a terrified heart, beat within a rapidly rising and falling chest. Moisture built within soft, clammy palms.

"Ok Callie, we're nearly done here." Derek's soothing voice called to her, momentarily breaking the constant beeping between the eerie silences.

A soft sigh escaped ruby lips. She was feeling slightly dazed and confused about what was happening to her. She tried to think about what had gotten her here, but nothing came to mind. There were just so many blank spaces. How had she let the gorgeous blonde woman convince her to climb into this machine?

_Callie you should not be thinking of her in that way. You have a girlfriend, think about Erica! _She tried to get her mind to stop focusing on the bright blue eyes and focus on the duller, sadder eyes of her girlfriend.

Not even twenty-four hours ago, she was sitting in a coffee shop laughing along to George's stupid jokes. Now, she was lying in a tube, confused as hell.

The machine buzzed back to into life around her, like some sci-fi movie. Callie had always loved the hospital, because of the futuristic feeling of the test rooms. The soft curves of the brunette emerged slowly from the tunnel of the machine, revealing nervous hands that idly fidgeted with the hem of a red shirt.

Arizona rushed through the door and into the sterile room. Confusion clear in her eyes, she walked up to Callie, taking her soft hand within her own pale one. She took a calming breath to decrease the fluttering of her heart, before she helped the brunette up and into a sitting position.

"Hey, that really wasn't so bad after all." The blonde smiled down at Callie. "Doesn't really help with anything though." Callie only caught the mumbled words that the blonde uttered because she had been so focused upon her smooth, pink lips.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Help with what?" She stood up, pulling up to her full height to try and pull together some semblance of authority. "This is about me, I have a right to know if there is something wrong with me!"

"Callie, baby, please you have to calm down." Arizona tried to pull the ferocious brunette closer to her, knowing that normally just a touch is enough to calm her down. Unfortunately though, Callie was too far gone, fear had overtaken her and she was becoming very irrational.

"Derek Shepherd get in here now and tell me what the hell is happening!" Callie yelled, walking away from the blonde. Hot tears started to form in the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Derek walked into the large room, and straight up to the angry woman. He looked her straight in the eyes, unafraid to stare her down. "Callie, Arizona is right; you really do need to calm down. There isn't anything that shows up on your scans, but that's what worries us."

Callie looks between Derek and Arizona. She sighs and shakes her head, in this hospital everything always goes wrong at once. "What exactly are we looking at?"

"Well, your scans are clear and there is nothing that shows any sign of head trauma or anything to really worry about. However, I'm going to ask you a few questions, just to give us a better idea of what we are dealing with." Derek opens the door leading to the passageway and directs them into the nearest consultation room.

Callie takes a seat at the edge of the bed, feeling very much like a patient at this stage. She sought out the blue eyes that somehow managed to make her feel so safe. _Come on Callie, there must be a reason for that!_

"Callie, what is today's date?" Derek needed to get this under-way. He had no idea what was going on with Callie. There was nothing to physically show what was wrong with her, but there must be a reason for her to be sitting here without any recollection of the last few years.

Callie sat folding and unfolding her hands within themselves. "Umm. 21st May?" She looked up at Derek and Arizona, noting their trepidation.

Derek looked towards Arizona, a tinge of surprise and uneasiness radiating from within. Callie's heart began to flutter with curiosity and fear, she could see both surgeons' feelings written across their faces as clear as day. She knew straight away that she had answered the question incorrectly.

Arizona hopped from one foot to the next, unsure of what to do. Should she talk to Callie and explain things, or should she leave it to Derek. She wanted, no needed, to know what the hell was going on with her wife. "Cal, George died more than five years ago."

"What do you mean? Derek, what does she mean?" At this moment in time, Callie needed to hear from someone that she knew, heck, someone that actually worked with brains all day!

A slow, steady sigh escaped Derek's pursed lips. This was turning out to be far more complicated than he initially thought that it would be. "Well," He dropped Callie's scans onto the table and turned to sit next to her. "It seems that you have somehow lost your memory of the last five years. I have no idea what could have caused it, so I have no idea how to fix it. The only thing that I can suggest is that you rest and try to jog your memory in any way that you can. Take a walk around the hospital, talk to friends, family and colleagues.

Callie's head dropped into her hands, she tried to think about what she could have done, would have done after George died. The only thing that she could recall was being lead up to the psych ward by Bailey. _Bailey! _

"Where's Bailey?" Callie jumped up off the bed and yanked the door open, walking hastily toward the nurses' station. She knew that if anybody would be of any help, it would be the one person that had been with her in her last memory.

Callie noticed the short woman from down the corridor. She was stood with her back against the desk, looking up at a tall, dark – and rather yummy looking, nurse. Callie smiled at them, glad that Bailey was finally heading towards happiness. _What about her husband? _Callie's elation at seeing Doctor Bailey flirting like a school girl plummeted. Her heart dropped thinking that Bailey was cheating on Tucker, the father of her son, the guy that nearly died the same day that her son was born.

Callie stormed toward the deserted station, determined to crap all over the, normally, scary surgeon. "Bailey!" The tiny woman jumped and turned away from the male nurse, she looked like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "How could you do this to Tucker? Okay, I get that he's been an ass lately and all that, but seriously? In the middle of the hospital! Wha -" Callie pulled her rambling to a sudden halt when she noted the look spreading across Miranda Bailey's features.

"What's wrong with you Torres?" Miranda pulled Callie away from any prying ears and turned back to face her. "Do we need to make another visit to the psych ward?" Bailey cocked one eyebrow, staring down the young Latina.

"You mean that you and Tucker are divorced? And him, who's he?" Callie looked over Bailey's shoulder, giving the handsome nurse a quick once-over.

"What's wrong with you? Have you hit your head Torres?" Bailey smacked Callie across her upper arm, pulling her attention away from the confused nurse, and back into their current conversation.

"Apparently I have some sort of amnesia of some kind. One moment I'm in the psych ward, the next minute I'm walking around the hospital. I have no idea what happened, Bailey, I need your help." She let out a ragged breath, noticing the tears that are slowly making their way down her cheeks.

Bailey took Callie's trembling hand within her own tiny ones, "We'll figure this out." She looked around the tall Latina, noticing the blonde watching from a distance, a shadow across her delicate features. "Go to the cafeteria, get us some coffee and I'll meet you there in five minutes."

Miranda Bailey determinedly made her way toward the blonde, stopping only when she stood right in front of her. "Right, now tell me what has Torres acting so freaky. All you surgeons ever seem to do is create issues!" She shook her head fiercely, and then focused her fiery gaze upon the petrified blonde.

"I know as much as you do." The unshed tears continued to build within the soft blue eyes. "She doesn't even know who I am Bailey. The woman of my dreams woke up this morning, she kissed me goodbye as I left for work," soft pearls of salty tears made their way down porcelain cheeks, alerting the former Nazi to the blonde's breaking heart. "And now... Now, now what am I supposed to do? She thinks that George died yesterday; for god's sake, she thinks that she's with Erica! That's five years Bailey! Five years of her life that she's lost, and for what? What the hell caused that to happen? Why now?"

"Calm down Arizona, there's nothing that you can do to help right now." Bailey pushed her hands deep into the pockets of her lab coat, trying to think of what they could do. "Let me talk to the board, see if we can let her carry on despite the amnesia. I'm not sure what they'll say, but it's worth a try. In the mean time, you stay away from that woman; she doesn't need the added stress of trying to figure out why you're making gooey eyes at her."

"What?" Arizona yanked her head up. "How do you honestly expect that to work?" She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts and collect the dates in her mind. "From what she's thinking, she still lives with Christina, she isn't yet an attending, Mark and Lexie aren't married. Oh and yes, SHE'S WITH ERICA!" Her heart plummeted into her stomach once again, acknowledging the fact that her wife doesn't remember her.

"Nobody said anything about lying to her Robbins. I'm going to have a chat to her, see if I can figure out what's gotten her all crazy. Sit tight, you'll have your family back together in no time. For now though, I forbid you from stalking her or trying to force yourself back into her head." Bailey nodded her head at the startled blonde and turned to walk away.

"You forbid me? Seriously Bailey, you're going there?"

"I'm Bailey, Chief of surgery, mother of three, and I own these halls that you skate on. Yes, I'm going there!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart. Will she spiral out of control and lose all hope, or can she still be rescued? (The summary will get clearer with later chapters, I just don't want to reveal too much just yet.)**

**Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**Beta:**** GreysCalzonaLover and funkyshaz57**

Callie sat with her head resting in her palms, elbows firmly planted on the cafeteria table. She had already finished one coffee, and was now on her second which didn't look like it was going to be lasting much longer than the first. She lifted her head from her hands, looking around the cafeteria. Not much had changed in the place in the five years that she had 'missed'. It was still as dreary as ever. A soft smirk flittered across her features as she thought how the food probably hadn't improved much either. She allowed her head to drop back down into her hands, hoping that somehow this day would miraculously end.

"Doctor Torres." Alex Karev sidled up next to the brunette. "I'm surprised to see you here, thought that your shift finished a few hours ago?"

Raven curls bounced haphazardly when Callie yanked her head up in recognition. Her deep brown eyes popped when she saw the young man next to her. "You're an attending?"

Alex looked from Callie down to his royal blue scrubs, which sat neatly between his toned body and his pristine white lab coat, then back up. "Yeah, I have been for a few months. You okay?"

"No. I'm having the day from hell. So the manwhore finally let you onto his plastics train?"

"Wow, Torres, where have you been for the last five years?" He didn't answer her question, thinking that she was messing with him.

"Just answer the damn question Karev."

"After Dr Kenley pegged and Arizona started I managed to get more Paeds cases. I like the kids, the kids like me. It's all good." Callie couldn't help but notice the way that his chest puffed out and his eyes grew bigger whilst he talked about his job. She also noticed that he was still as short and to the point as he had always been. Same old Karev.

"Karev, move." Bailey walked up to Callie's table, throwing down a file as she waited for Alex to move."

"Seat's all yours Chief." Alex picked up his tray, smiled at the surly woman and walked toward the table that seated the rest of his usual gang. He found Callie's behaviour strange, but knew that the only reason why he hadn't heard anything about it yet was because he'd been in surgery for the last six hours.

Meredith raised her head as Alex's tray collided with the table. "So how bad is it?" Her body was as far across the table as her pregnant stomach would allow, one foot pushing against her seat in order to give her leverage.

"What?" Alex scowled as he dropped onto the chair.

"You mean you haven't heard?" Cristina chimed in from her best friend's side.

"Oh that!" He looked at Cristina, who was sat dressed in plain clothes, her hair wild around her face. "And why the hell are you here anyway, shouldn't you be off changing diapers and cleaning up spit?"

"Well you're the expert on that, it is what you do every day." The young Asian woman pulled the burping cloth off her shoulder as soon as Meredith pointed it out to her. She looked at it disapprovingly before chucking it into the nappy bag that had been slung onto the table upon her arrival. "So, Torres?"

Everyone knew that despite Cristina's outward show of disapproval, she absolutely adored her little bundle. She could pretend all she wanted, but as soon as she looked at her son and his head of ginger curls, her face involuntarily broke out into a smile, and her eyes poured out the love that she held for him.

"She was all freaked out about the fact that I'm all of a sudden an attending, like that's news, and then thought that my specialty was in plastics. Five years guys."

"Derek said that she freaked when Arizona tried to comfort her. What do you think is going on?" The blonde woman popped a grape into her mouth

"Who knows? I suppose we'll probably find out somewhere along the lines though." Cristina piped in again.

"Must be bad for Arizona though, I can't imagine how I would feel if Derek couldn't remember me." Meredith thought aloud as she watched Callie talking to Bailey.

Bailey sat opposite Callie, unsure of where to start. Her heart sank for this woman, she had been through so much in such a short period of time, and every time her life seemed to be getting on track, she was thrown a curve ball.

Callie looked down at her hand, noticing for the first time the band on her left ring finger. "Who am I married to?" She couldn't help but hope that if it wasn't Erica, it would be Arizona. The woman clearly cared about her, she had been with her from the instant that this whole crazy mess had started. _Hang on a minute. Maybe? _

Callie looked from her ring to Bailey who sat looking at the table, entirely unsure of what to say. She looked back down at her ring. It was almost as if her heart was trying to force her to know. "Am I married to Arizona?" Callie whispered, almost allowing a smile to form on her lips.

Bailey whipped her head up, a smile adorning her features. "You remember?" When Callie shook her head she allowed the smile to fall, saddened, but at the same time slightly hopeful. "Then how?"

"I don't know. It's almost as if my heart was forcing me to know. I don't remember though, it's stupid, I can't explain it, but I just _know._"

Bailey reached her hand across the table, holding Callie's within her own. She normally wouldn't want people to see her 'human' side, but this was a special circumstance.

"What happened to Erica?" Callie asked, concern etched into her voice.

"I can't be the one to tell you that Callie, that's something that will come to you when the time is right. You have obviously put everything into a box for a reason, and I'm not the person that you need to help you open that box. When the time is right, everything will fall into place, but for now you need to take it easy, relax and don't force it."

"Relax? You're honestly telling me to relax when I've somehow managed to wipe the last five years of my life from my memory!" The brunette pulled her hands from Bailey's and rubbed them angrily over her face. "I mean, was I upset about something? Did something bad happen?" Panic set deep into her voice, shining through from her dark eyes.

"I don't know. You seemed happy, like everything was going well. You're the head of Ortho, Arizona is the head of Paeds, your family is happy and healthy. You went to see your parents last month and as far as I know they are all coming for Christmas."

"They are?" Callie smiled, realising that this meant that her family must accept her and love her for who she is.

"Callie, you can come back from this. You know you can."

"Thanks Bailey." Callie placed her hand back onto Miranda's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I think I need to talk to Dr. Robbins."

"You think that you're up for it?" Bailey raised her eyebrow at the young surgeon.

"Yeah, I think that I need to hear from her." She looked down at Bailey as she stood up. "Does this mean that I can't cut?"

"I need to talk to the surgical board, but you know me." The small woman stood up, following Callie out of the cafeteria. "You know rules hey Torres."

"Yep, I won't tell a soul that you're secretly a human deep down inside." Callie laughed as she rounded the corner, instantly stopping when she spotted the head of blonde hair that rounded the corner ahead of her.

"Good. Now go find your woman." With that Bailey turned and walked back to the cafeteria, presumably to rip up the young attending that she knew had been gossiping about Callie.

The brunette walked slowly in the general direction that the blonde had taken. She could feel her heart beat speeding up and her hands becoming clammy from the nerves. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about the blonde, about why she had managed to calm her down just by being in her proximity, and the fact that she had an inexplicable urge to push the woman up against a wall and do a lot of not-so-innocent things to her.

Callie shook her head, trying to force her mind away from its current location in a second-floor on-call room. She tried to mentally will the blush out of her cheeks, but her attempts were proving futile. _Erica! But where is she? She clearly isn't here, and even if she was, it wouldn't matter because you're married to Arizona, and from the look and sound of things, it's a very happy, very sexy marriage!_

The brunette smiled when she spotted Arizona leaning over the desk of the nurses' station on the Paeds floor, obviously trying to reach something that was just far of her reach. She had to force away the temptation to walk up behind the blonde, embrace her from behind and huskily whisper some very naughty suggestions into her ear. _What the hell is this woman doing to me? I'm acting like a horny, sex deprived teenage boy!_

Callie forced herself to take a deep breath before she walked up _next to_ the petite woman. "Hey."

Arizona jumped when she heard the familiar voice beside her. She gave up her fight to try and get the fluffy pen that slipped out of her hand, and turned to smouldering brown eyes. Oh boy, she knew what these eyes meant. She forced herself to swallow the knot that had suddenly formed in her throat. Her pulse had jumped sky-high, but she knew that all her blood had relocated to a very unhelpful place.

"Umm, Calliope... Hey." She popped one of her trademark dimpled grins. "What brings you up to Paeds?" She had to resist the temptation to press her body against the brunettes and take her then and there in the corridor of the Paeds ward; the way that Callie was looking at her was turning her on more than she could bear.

Callie smiled wider, unable to resist when the blonde was looking at her like she was trying not to devour her. "Umm. So apparently we're married. Which I'm really happy about, because it means that I can tell you this, without you looking at me strangely."

"Tell me what Calliope?" The joy that she felt when she saw the way that Callie was looking at her suddenly drained, she had momentarily forgotten that Callie was literally a blank slate when it came to her.

The brunette took a deep breath, releasing it unsteadily, trying to psych herself up. She flashed the blonde a goofy smile, proud of herself when it made the blonde pull out her dimples again. "Umm." She stopped to look into the deep blue eyes again, somehow drawn closer to the blonde. She felt like her heart was pulling her closer, taking over her thoughts and actions. Before she felt it, she saw her hand cupping the blonde's cheek, stroking the smooth skin with her thumb. "You look really beautiful."

Arizona felt all the air leave her lungs. Her legs felt weak and her heart pounded behind her eardrums. The way that Callie had uttered those words, like she was a coveted painting, like she was the first sunrise or the last sunset, like it was the first time that she had ever uttered those words to her, like she was in awe, it made goosebumps fly across her skin. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she slowly released the breath that she hadn't realised that she had been holding.

"Calliope.."


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and loose all hope, or can she still be rescued? **

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**Beta:**** GreysCalzonaLover **

**A/N:**** Okay, before we start I would just like to point out that I have nothing against Africa – I infact live in Africa... Just putting it out there :P**

_Arizona felt all the air leave her lungs. Her legs felt weak and her heart pounded behind her eardrums. The way that Callie had uttered those words, like she was a coveted painting, like she was the first sunrise or the last sunset, like it was the first time that she had ever uttered those words to her, like she was in awe, it made goosebumps fly across her skin. Her eyes closed involuntarily as she slowly released the breath that she hadn't realised that she had been holding._

"_Calliope..."_

Callie was brought back to the moment when she heard the desperation in Arizona's voice. She ran her thumb absent-mindedly over the blonde's lower lip, then took a step back. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and try to control the feelings that this woman had invoked her.

"I... Umm. Sorry, I shouldn't have done that." Callie whispered as she shook her head, balling her hands into fists and putting them behind her back. She didn't understand why she couldn't control herself around the blonde.

"Calliope, what's going on?" Arizona spoke softly, pain evident in her eyes but compassion and love the only thing coming across in her voice.

"I'm sorry." Callie whispered again. "I... Arizona," She sighed, dropping her head.

Arizona could feel her heart breaking all over again. She wanted to run away and cry, but she knew that right now, she couldn't. She didn't want to. "Calliope, please, talk to me." The blonde begged, taking the brunette's hand in her own. She forced herself to ignore the sparks that she felt shooting through her body from their simple touch.

Callie couldn't ignore it; she couldn't ignore the feeling that was radiating throughout her just from the simple act of holding hands. She looked up into the eyes that she had so quickly come to depend upon. "We need to talk."

Arizona looked around the corridor, instantly spotting the on-call room down the corridor she nodded her head. "Follow me." She gripped Callie's hand harder and pulled her along. She poked her head around the door, making sure there were no sleeping doctors or nurses. Thankfully the majority of them had the decency not to use the Paeds on-call room for their sexy-time escapades.

As the door closed behind them, Callie launched head-long into her speech. "Look, I know this isn't fair on you and that I actually have no right to ask this of you, but I need to know. I need to know why I can't stop thinking about you, the way that the light reflects on your hair, and the fact that your eyes are so blue they make me feel like I'm back by the sea, the way that your dimples make my heart melt every time they appear, and the fact that all I want to do is be with you."

Arizona's heart sped up. She took a step closer to the frightened brunette. "Calliope, as much as I love your rambling right now, and the fact that after all these years you've finally come up with a speech that could rival one of mine, please, just ask me."

Callie could feel all the air escaping her, she had to do this; she had to know what these feelings were. _Come on Callie, this is easy, you can do this. What's the worst that she could do? She could say no. But you're married to her. But she could still say no...Then she goes and tells the whole hospital that you threw yourself at her? Oh crap, I would have to get another job, at another hospital, preferably in a whole other country. Africa, that sounds good. Africa? Familiar. AFRICA!_

"You went to Africa?"

Callie saw something flash across Arizona's features, but couldn't quite figure out what it was. "After the whole speech, that seriously was not what I thought you were going to ask." She could hear the hurt and surprise etched within the words and felt the anger build within herself, yet was unsure exactly why it was there.

"I didn't go, did I?" She felt pieces clicking together, like little bits of the puzzle were forming larger bits of the final picture. "Why did you leave me?"

"I... Callie... Seriously of all the things that you could have remembered, why was it this?" Arizona started pacing, roughly shoving her hand through her thick hair. The room felt like it was shrinking, like it was closing in around her. "Bigger things have happened scarier things have happened than damned Africa. I hate Africa!"

Callie wasn't hearing Arizona's panicked voice anymore, and she wasn't seeing the blonde pacing in the room. It felt like things were moving around her, transforming into another place. Before she realised it, she found herself in a patient's room, talking to a little girl. Except it wasn't her, well it was her, but not in the entire sense of the word. She felt like she was on the edge of the room, looking in on somebody else.

"There are only children here." Callie watches as the small blonde cowers over the tiny body that lies on the table. Her heart broke hearing the fear in Arizona's voice as she whispered the same words over and over and over. All she wanted was to gather the blonde in her arms and kiss all her fears away.

Callie watched herself hand over bandages to the man in the doorway. She followed her trembling hand to the gun, she felt the blood drain out of her body as she realised what she was doing. She looked from herself back to Arizona. Realisation struck like a lightning bolt through a pitch black sky.

The room moved around her again, taking her away from the petrified blond and the tiny little girl. "Ruby." She never knew the name until she heard it whispered from her own lips.

"What?" Callie's attention was pulled back to the pacing blonde when the blonde's voice cut through the haze. She stood still momentarily, afraid that she was yet again trapped in some random memory. "Earth to Calliope."

Arizona stopped her pacing and walked up to Callie, stopping only when she was directly in front of her. She looked deep within the chocolate orbs of the woman that she adored. Her heart recognised the love that Callie harboured deep within.

"You said 'Ruby'. Did you remember something?"

"I love you. I may not exactly remember who you are and how we got here, but I know that I love you. I may not know you, but I know me. I stood between you and a crazy gunman; my heart broke when I saw how scared you were. I love you." Callie lifted a shaky hand up to caress the smooth skin of Arizona's cheek. She noted how the blue eyes involuntarily fluttered closed, how Arizona's breath hitched, and her breathing became shallower. She loved the effect that she had on this woman; Erica never reacted to a simple touch in this way.

"Are you going to kiss me or are you planning on standing there staring at me all day?"

Callie flashed the blonde another goofy smile, blushing, as lent in to kiss the soft, inviting lips of the woman in front of her, they were startled by Arizona's blearing pager. Both jumped back, Arizona swore under her breath before pulling the pager into sight. "I have to go, it's a 911." She felt her heart drop, terrified that they may have missed their opportunity.

As the blonde reached for the door handle, she was stopped by the brunette's almost silent whisper. "Arizona." When the blonde turned to look at her Callie smiled. "I know it's stupid, but will you go on a date with me?" When the blonde flashed her killer dimples, Callie knew her answer.

"Text me the details." With renewed hope, the blonde left the on-call room, running to the location of her 911 page.

**Progress is being made **


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and lose all hope, or can she still be rescued? **

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**Beta:**** The super-amazing**** GreysCalzonaLover **

_As the blonde reached for the door handle, she was stopped by the brunette's almost silent whisper. "Arizona." When the blonde turned to look at her Callie smiled. "I know it's stupid, but will you go on a date with me?" When the blonde flashed her killer dimples, Callie knew her answer._

"_Text me the details." With renewed hope, the blonde left the on-call room, running to the location of her 911 page._

Arizona felt like she was on cloud nine. Her heart was skipping and her dimples were out in full force. Her wife may not know exactly who she was, but Callie was prepared to get to know her again, to revisit those memories that they had created together, and that was all that mattered to her right now. They were taking steps. Teeny-tiny, baby steps, but they were steps none-the-less.

The emergency appy that she had been called to had gone smoothly. She was slightly irritated that it was her that was paged, as she had trained her monkeys well to do these surgeries. Alex was doing so brilliantly in the field and frequently put a smile on her face when she caught him interacting with the kids.

Looking in on all her little ones on her way to her office, she allowed herself to breathe and catch up with all the turmoil that her heart and been through in less than twenty-four hours. Things shouldn't be this crazy, but then again, things had never been easy for her and Callie.

A gentle knock at her office door had her leaping off of the couch that she had been lounging on. Arizona smiled when she noticed very familiar russet eyes pop around the door. "Hey," she smiled. "I thought you were going to text me?"

"Yeah, I was going to, but then I thought that I wouldn't have an excuse to see you again if I had." Callie blushed, wondering where this other side of her had come from. Despite all her confusing feelings for the blonde before her, she had still been fighting with herself, feeling that she was cheating on Erica.

Arizona timidly took Callie's hand in her own. She didn't know what was okay anymore, what was too much for her. "Come take a seat." The brunette sat down next to her, making sure that there was a part of them that was touching.

"So... I was thinking that... ummm... maybe we can go to the park, there's this really nice spot where you can see the whole of Seattle. I was thinking that maybe we could have a picnic there?" She was nervous, very nervous. Her hands were idly playing with each other, like they had minds if their own, when she realised this, she put them flat against her thighs.

Arizona was tempted to tell Callie that she knew exactly which spot she was talking about. She wanted to tell her about all the romantic evenings that they had spent there under the stars, some innocent, and more not-so-innocent. "I would love to." She wanted nothing more than to kiss her wife, but she knew that things had to go at Callie's pace, not her own.

Callie's smile broke out across her face, reminding Arizona of her wife on their wedding day, the excitement and joy in those big brown eyes were like a photograph imprinted in her memory. She would do this for her, she would play along with their dates and teenage giggles, and she would act like it was all new for her. She would do anything that she had to do to get her wife back, to get her Calliope back.

"Okay, well I'll be seeing you around." Callie smiled on her way out.

The blonde giggled from her seat on the couch. "You're such a dork, and yes, you'll be seeing me around."

A gentle blush had settled in Callie's cheeks as she closed the door behind her. She couldn't ever remember feeling this nervous about a date. There was something about Arizona that made her feel relaxed and on edge at the same time. The way that she had her heart fluttering and butterflies exploding in her stomach just at the thought of her, made Callie completely and totally perplexed and frightened, but ecstatic at the same time.

Callie felt over the moon, yet she was wracked with guilt at the same time. The more she learnt about Arizona, the more she fell out of love with Erica. There was nothing specifically wrong with Erica. She was amazing, and beautiful and understanding. But she wasn't Arizona. Callie kept finding herself comparing the blondes. The way her skin hummed when Arizona looked at her, made her realise that her body never responded to Erica that way. She thought about the way that Arizona's eyes twinkled and danced when they caught each others' gazes, and the way that her heart ached when the simple contact was lost.

The most astounding of all, was the fact that she stood in the same place that she had been for the last few minutes, hand still on the door handle, and smile still firmly in place. This woman had her whipped. Her smile grew as she shook her head, loosening her grip and walking away from the blonde's office, taking note of the heaviness that set in her heart the further she walked.

She stepped onto the elevator, heading to the main lobby to see if she could find Bailey. That woman was likely impossible to find, but she was going to try anyway.

"Torres." Cristina nodded absently.

Callie's eyes widened when she took note of the Korean woman standing in the elevator, pram next to her and a babbling little boy in her arms. She smiled adoringly at him as he yanked away at Cristina's unruly hair, his own mop of ginger curls not much more tame than his mother's.

"What? It's not like you've never seen him before." Cristina registered Callie's confused expression then commenced her fish out of water impression. "Yes, you haven't seen him before." Eyes wide and over exaggerating her movements, Cristina turned her son to face Callie.

"Shut up Yang." Callie grumbled. She may have been having an off day, but she wasn't about to let the surly intern enjoy it. _She can't still be an intern, maybe Attending? _Over her internal grumble, Callie took the little man from his mother, cooing over him. "I wanna take you home with me." She smiled lovingly at him, "I don't think that your mommy would like that though." She placed a gentle kiss on his crown, inhaling his addicting baby smell.

A now familiar fuzzy feeling took over her body, not trusting herself with Cristina's son, she handed him back, trying to brace herself for what may lay ahead of her.

"Hey Squirt, I'm home." Callie found herself on the sidelines of the room. From her earlier experience she deduced that this was another memory. She sat on a plush, chocolate brown couch, a young child, no older than three, perched on her lap.

"Momma!" The unexpected squeal caused Callie to take a step back as she watched the further events unfold.

She watched as the little girl climbed unsteadily off of her lap and ran into the awaiting arms of a familiar blonde. She smiled as understanding washed over her. This was their family. "Sofia." She whispered into the deserted room. The area around her had long since transformed back into her current location in the lobby. She shook her head, raven curls swaying gently around her. She really needed to find Arizona.

"Torres?" Christina's voice penetrated the fog that had set in around her. She could hear the panic in her voice, but knew that the younger woman would never admit to it, ever.

"I need to go." Callie whispered. She felt her heart shatter the moment that she had realised the significance of her memory, a lump had settled in her throat and no amount of swallowing seemed to alleviate it. Her body went onto autopilot, taking her back in the direction that she come, her feet carrying her to where they knew that they needed to go. She fought back the tears that threatened to fall, refusing to break down in front of everyone.

As Callie walked into the Paediatrics ward she spotted Arizona. The lump in her throat grew and she started shaking.

Arizona's eyes locked onto the wide petrified orbs of her wife. She handed her chart to the closest nurse and made a beeline for the frazzled brunette. Coming up next to Callie, Arizona took her hand and led her further down the corridor into the on-call room. As soon as the door closed behind them, the floodgates opened.

"We have a daughter? How could I have forgotten that? What sort of mother forgets that she has a child?" The tears started falling down tanned cheeks. Arizona didn't know what to do, she didn't know whether to grab the pacing brunette or if she should let her work through things, let her vent.

"She's so beautiful. Like the way that she looks at me, with those pouty lips and those 'puss-in-boots' eyes, that she could only have learnt from you. Who forgets their own baby Arizona? Why would I do that?" Callie stopped pacing, tears freely flowing down her cheeks. She turned to the blonde, compassion and love adorned on the pale features of the woman that she knew deep down she loved. "Why?"

Arizona walked up to Callie, pulling her down onto the stiff mattress of the on-call room bed. She wrapped one arm around the trembling brunette as best she could, whilst the other stroked wild locks off of Callie's red, puffy cheeks. She kissed the brunette's temple, trying herself to keep her tears at bay.

"You are far from a bad mother. When Sofia wakes up in the middle of the night screaming from a nightmare, you're in her room soothing away the monsters before I've even sat up. Last year, when she begged for a puppy for Christmas, and I was so ready to cave in as soon as she pulled out the puppy-dog face, you explained the responsibilities that she would have, and at the word 'poop' she swore she would never have a dog. Which, by the way, is why we now have chickens." When Callie gave the blonde a quizzical look, Arizona smiled and shrugged her shoulders innocently. "You taught her how to tie her shoelaces whilst Mark_ still_ tries to keep buying her Velcro ones. You're the only person that she wants when she's sick because she wants you to sing to her, I'm only allowed to stroke her hair." Callie smiled at the pout that came across the blonde's features. "She loves you so much; you're the centre of her little world."

"But I still forgot her." Callie's smile dropped instantly. "How old is she? When's her birthday? What was her first word? What is her favourite colour? Does she have a favourite toy? Is she allergic to anything? I can't stop thinking of all these questions that I don't know the answers to."

"Breathe, Calliope you need to breathe before you start having an anxiety attack. You'll remember everything, just give it time."

The brunette looked up through thick eyelashes, her facial expressions showing every emotion other than relief. Arizona knew that she would have to try harder if she wanted to convince her.

"You didn't deliberately forget her. Calliope, your life is a bit crazy right now, but know that no matter what, I'm here for you. I love you with all my heart, and if I have to spend every day of the rest of my life reminding you of our love, baby I'm prepared to do that for you." Callie lifted her head, her eyes quickly seeking out the calming blue orbs and attaching to them. She could feel her heart erupt into a symphony of drums, the mood in the room changed at the blink of an eye, instant electricity shot through her body, drawing her closer to the blonde.

Arizona felt it too, the sudden pull, like they were being forced together by fate. Her heart started racing through her body, her breathing slowed almost to a stop, she felt like she could pass out from the intensity of the moment.

Callie's palm rested once again on a smooth ivory cheek. Her eyes locked with blue. She watched as Arizona drew in closer to her, slowly, giving her every chance that she needed to pull away. But she didn't want to, she needed to know the taste of those lips, she desperately ached to feel the soft warmth against her own.

The erratic beeping of Arizona's pager once again filled the room. "God I swear I'm going to smash this thing the next time it does this." Arizona grumbled under her breath as she pulled it off her waistband.

Callie couldn't help the laugh that bubbled out of her chest. There was something almost familiar and endearing about the blonde fighting with the small object now in her hand.

"You're going to be smashing it quite often then." She smiled cheekily. "Umm... so I'll see you at about 7, by the entrance?" Callie suddenly felt nervous and giddy at the same time. Her heart was doing all kinds of crazy gymnastics in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe like a normal person.

"Yeah." Arizona couldn't have stopped the dimpled smile that lit up her face, even if her life had depended upon it.

Before she could lose all nerve and chicken out, Callie leaned in, placing a delicate, chaste kiss on Arizona's right dimple, and then quickly scurried out of the room. She didn't know how, or why, but those dimples were dangerous!


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:**** Learning How to Survive**

**Paring:**** Callie/Arizona**

**Rating:**** PG-13 (for now)**

**Summary:**** Callie's life falls apart after witnessing George's death. Will she spiral out of control and lose all hope, or can she still be rescued? **

**Disclaimer:**** All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their owners. **

**Basically, I own nada, just creating random events for fun :)**

**Beta:**** The awesome GreysCalzonaLover**

**A/N:**** Thanks for all the reviews/favourites and follows :)**

**Sorry that I took so long to update previously, life issues combined with internet issues meant that Ch7 sat complete for 5 months :S ... **

**To 'funkshazhaterz', I would have loved to reply to your review(read:accusation) however, you have disabled PMs... Please let me know which story I 'stole' so that I can get in contact with the relevant author...**

**I would also like to say that your 'name' is uncool, Funkshaz is a highly respected member of ff, she is never rude or unkind, but rather gives constructive criticism in a friendly manner. What are you offering? Feel free to review, but there's no need to be an ass about it. We're just here to blow off steam and entertain our muses, there's no need to pick on people in such a horrible way.**

"_Umm... so I'll see you at about 7, by the entrance?" Callie suddenly felt nervous and giddy at the same time. Her heart was doing all kinds of crazy gymnastics in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe like a normal person._

"_Yeah." Arizona couldn't have stopped the dimpled smile that lit up her face, even if her life had depended upon it._

_Before she could lose all nerve and chicken out, Callie leaned in, placing a delicate, chaste kiss on Arizona's right dimple, and then quickly scurried out of the room. She didn't know how, or why, but those dimples were dangerous!_

"So, I heard a rumour that there was a sexy Ortho goddess waiting down in the lobby." Arizona walked up behind the fidgeting brunette. "Do you know where I might find her?"

A big grin took over Callie's features as she turned to face the blonde. "Hmm. I don't know," She circled her arms around the blonde, like it was something that she had been doing her whole life. "But I happen to be looking for this amazing, beautiful and extremely perky paeds surgeon." She looked over the top of Arizona's head, checking behind her. "You didn't happen to see her on your way down here, did you?"

"Nope." Arizona smiled, looping her arms around Callie's neck.

"Oh well, guess you'll have to do then." The brunette smiled, pulling the shorter woman into her body, and placing a gentle kiss on her temple. "Shall we get going?"

"Hmm, that depends, are you going to rush me off to some creepy back alley and chop all my limbs off? 'Cause I hear you know how to do that." Arizona giggled as they pair turned toward the main door.

"Now why would I whisk you off to do that when there's a perfectly good OR with awesome, badass saws?" Arizona beamed knowing that despite her wife's memory malfunction, all the small things that had been shared between them were still showing through. Callie's use of the word 'awesome' just gave her that little bit more confidence that everything would turn out okay in the end.

"I guess you have a point there."

Callie led the blonde to the passenger side of her car, opening the door for her. She allowed Arizona to get comfortable in her set before closing the door. She loved her T-Bird, and she was glad to find, that despite her and Arizona being parents, her beloved car was still around. The brunette leaned down through the open window, kissed Arizona on the cheek then rounded her car, giddy with excitement.

Arizona turned in her seat, focussing her attention on her wife. She drank in the child-like enthusiasm that was radiating from Callie, it reminded her of their first date and the nervous excitement that they both went through. It made her smile, it was bitter-sweet.

"Where are we going?" Arizona popped her dimples, playing dumb. There were certain things that she was glad to know worked with Calliope, even if Callie didn't know it herself.

"Well, it was going to be a secret, but you're just too adorable to resist." Callie winked at her passenger, before turning back to the road. "So there's this amazing little part of the park that hardly anyone ever goes to. It's so beautiful, it looks out of the whole city," She looked across to the blonde, "And we've already been there about a million times?" Callie felt like a complete moron. Here she was thinking that she was being romantic and unique. Her heart dropped. _Stupid memory loss_. She sighed.

"Who cares if we've been there a million times, Calliope? It's our spot, it's our special place. We can go there every day for the rest of our lives, and it will still be as special as the first. The fact that you chose the park for our date tonight makes my heart soar. It reassures me that, deep down inside, you know who we are." Arizona smiled at Callie. Things were going to be okay, things _had_ to be okay.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier, when I told you we were coming here? I would have taken us somewhere else." She sighed dejectedly. "You don't have to pretend for me Arizona. I want to remember, I want things to go back to normal." Callie slowed the car as she turned into a parking spot. She turned off the ignition and turned once again to look into the stunning blue eyes of her companion. "I need you to be normal, you're clearly the biggest piece of the puzzle, without you... there's no bigger picture."

"Okay." Arizona whispered, caught off guard by the raw desperation in Callie's voice.

"Okay?" The brunette replied with a gentle smile.

They got out of the car, a renewed sense of calm having washed over them. Callie reached into the boot of her car and pulled out a big picnic basket and blue chequered blanket. She locked the car behind her then turned, taking a soft, delicate hand in her own.

"Where did you get those?" Arizona smiled, gently squeezing the hand that she held.

"You should know by now, that I have amazing contacts." Callie beamed. "And no matter how bad my faulty memory is, I still have dirt on the interns."

Arizona couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. Her wife was amazing. "Well then I guess you should probably stop calling them interns. They're all attendings now. Wow, that actually makes me feel old." The blonde grumbled.

"Me too. But if I'm old, that makes you really old, doesn't it?" The brunette laughed, jabbing Arizona with her hip.

"Not by much Mrs. Robbins-Torres." Arizona scolded naturally. "Sorry." She froze realising her slip-up.

"No apologies, we agreed." Callie gave the blonde's hand a quick squeeze before releasing it to set up their picnic. "I wasn't really sure what's going on in peoples' lives at the moment, and who is living where. It freaked me out a bit," Callie pulled out two wine glasses and a bottle of red, soon followed by a bottle of white. "So I couldn't really go anywhere to cook or whatever for our super romantic, under the stars dinner," She shot a look at the blonde who was now sitting opposite her, unable to see into the basket. "So, I got us the finest Italian cuisine that Seattle has to offer on semi-short notice." With that, Callie pulled out two pizza boxes.

Her actions were soon followed by peals of laughter from the blonde. "You never cease to amaze me, Calliope."

"I like that." Callie smiled. She opened the two boxes. "I always hated being called Calliope. No one calls me Calliope except for my father. Not even my mother gets away with it," She smiled at the blonde, who looked completely enraptured by her story. "Damn, you already know."

Arizona moved around so that she was lying on her side, one of her arms bent to support her head. "It doesn't matter." She smiled, reaching for a piece of Hawaiian pizza. "How about you ask me anything that you're curious about, and I'll tell you the answer."

Callie thought about this for a moment, moving to mirror Arizona's position. "I suddenly have no questions." Callie said absently. "You told me about Sofia, I know about you. Those seem to be the two most important aspects of my life. What else would I need to know?" Callie looked at her hands, then back into her girl's eyes. "Where's Sofia? I mean, wouldn't she normally be with us now?"

"Of course she would be, I would never try to keep her away from you. But Mark took her with them." Arizona answered matter of factly. When no questions followed, she reached across the blanket for the two bottles of wine. "I'm not testing you; I'm testing your intuition." She placed them on the blanket between them. "What do I drink?"

Callie took one of the glasses and half-filled it. She held it out to the blonde with a smirk. "I did bring both didn't I?" She then picked up the red and poured herself a glass.

Arizona looked at Callie, shocked. "I... I thought it was because you didn't know. How do you know?"

"Intuition. You know when you walk into the OR and you don't even have to think about which instruments to use, because you've done the procedure so many times?" When Arizona nodded, she continued. "I guess it's like that. I walked into the shop and I just knew what to get, without having to think about it."

Arizona smiled at the brunette, her eyes glazing over. "As I said, you never cease to amaze me."

"Where did Mark go?" Callie asked suddenly. They had finished their pizza and were lying on their backs watching the stars, their entwined hands resting between them.

"Honeymoon." Arizona answered half-uninterested.

"What? You mean that someone managed to tame the manwhore-extraordinaire?" Callie laughed, turning once again to the blonde.

"Yep. Lexie Grey for that matter." Callie just looked at her, shock evident in her features. "I'm getting the 'explanation required' vibes here," Arizona rolled to her side. "After Sophia was born and we tied the knot, I think he started to feel a bit left out of everything. Everyone around him was either married or in a serious relationship. So he decided that it was time to stop being a girl and man-up. He fought for the only woman that could ever control him and in the end, I have no idea what Lexie was thinking, he won her over."

Callie had only been half listening to the blonde. The moon was behind her, so was shining perfectly across Arizona's features. She lost herself in the way that blue eyes shone as if the moon was inside them. This woman was beautiful, perfect. How had she been so lucky?

"I kissed you at Joe's," Arizona blushed. She never thought that she would have to relay the story to Callie. And it turned out to be far more embarrassing than it had been when she had answered the 'how did you meet?' question when her mother had asked. "In the bathroom."

"You did what?" Callie laughed. "Seriously?"

"No judging, you married me remember."

"What was it like?" Callie asked, moving a bit closer to the blonde.

"Amazing." Arizona beamed. Callie laughed yet again. She found that she was laughing a lot on this date. It wasn't awkward or emotionally draining, it was easy and relaxing, like it should be. She didn't feel as if something was wrong with her, or that she was letting someone down.

"Not the kiss, you dork, the wedding."

"Oh, well that was also amazing. We had our ups and downs Calliope, like every normal couple does, but our wedding was the most spectacular wedding. Despite your freak-out sessions, my issues and our fathers wanting to kill Sloan, it was beautiful and perfect. I got to marry you Calliope, even through everything, I got to marry you."

Callie looked from the deep blue eyes to the soft pink lips, and back into her love's eyes. She felt herself getting lost once again, her heart fluttered crazily within her chest. Her body moved without instruction, edging closer to the dainty blonde before her. Electricity sparked where their skin touched, their fingers tingling in anticipation of what they both knew was to come.

Arizona lifted one hand up to Callie's jaw, brushing her fingers along the smooth skin that she found there. She moved closer to the brunette, she could almost taste her, the anticipation was overwhelming.

"Arizona." The blonde's name tumbled gently from the brunette's lips, much like a whispered prayer. She felt herself being pulled in by the blonde. Their lips touched, and instantly she felt herself being whisked away again, she felt darkness engulf her, but this time it was different.

"Arizona..."


End file.
